Publisher's Description

Do you ever get the idea that being a godly wife means you need to be a mousy doormat? Be as unnoticeable as a doorknob? Or have a personality transplant?

Fierce Women: The Power of a Soft Warrior, smashes that idea. No matter whether you're an extrovert or more introverted-Kimberly Wagner believes women are created to be a compelling force.

You may not see yourself as beautifully fierce or even slightly strong, but what if God has placed a powerful fierceness within you, within every woman? Kim admits her fierceness became a source of conflict in her marriage, but the relationship dynamic totally changed when she discovered her fierce strengths could be used to encourage and inspire her husband. She invites you to come alongside as she takes an honest look at a destructive relationship dynamic and casts a vision for the transformation God can bring to troubled marriages.

A True Woman Book

The goal of the True Woman publishing line is to encourage women to:

Discover, embrace, and delight in God's divine design and mission for their lives

Reflect the beauty and heart of Jesus Christ to their world

Intentionally pass the baton of Truth on to the next generation

Pray earnestly for an outpouring of God's Spirit in their families, churches, nation and world

Author Bio

KIMBERLY WAGNER is married to her favorite pastor, LeRoy Wagner. Their children include Rachel and her husband Adam, Caleb and his wife Lindsey, plus a growing tribe of grandchildren! Kim's passion is Christ, and she desires to ignite women's pursuit of God's glory. She is a frequent guest on the Revive Our Hearts radio program, as well as a regular contributor to the True Woman blog and the Beyond BathTime blog. Kim has written several devotionals and resource materials for women and loves encouraging women to become students of the Word.Kim is the author of Fierce Women: The Power of a Soft Warrior. You can connect with her through her website: www.KimberlyWagner.org where she loves sharing with women and hearing from them about what God is doing in their lives.

Editorial Reviews

This book is about the beauty of fierceness, about women who use their strength to honor the Lord by honoring their husbands. "When you're told the hurdle is higher than you can jump, fierceness is what gets your blood going and takes you flying over the top. It's the passion that motivates you to leave the cozy comfort of safety for the dangerous adventure of the unknown. It's that element of determination that holds you in place when weak soldiers flee. It's loyalty and doing what's right; brilliant intensity and going the long haul. Fierceness is fervent faith and lonely stands; solitary boldness and trying one more time." Men are drawn to this kind of fierceness because it reflects godly character. The purpose of Wagner's book is to identify that fierceness, to celebrate it, and to direct it toward the best and highest ends. Used wrongly it can be so destructive, but used well it can be an incredible blessing.

Fierce Women is the kind of book a feminist will hate because it affirms God-ordained differences between men and women and because it pushes women to live for the good of others, to esteem others higher than themselves. It affirms a woman's strength, but shows the biblical way to use that strength is to direct it in love toward others. It's a book I highly recommend.

Where to begin! This was such a great book and there are so many things to share about it. Again, I heard about this book through Revive our Hearts, and then several other bloggers were reading and recommending it. (This book is for married women, but I believe that it is a great book to read in preparation for marriage. And the author had a sweet note in the back for singles, too.)

Kimberly Wagner writes to singles, "You can begin preparing yourself for marriage by implementing the character traits of the Beautifully Fierce Woman in your daily relationships with others_Don't waste your time of singleness in selfish pursuits but use this season to glorify God in your role as a soft warrior." She goes on to share some suggestions on doing that.

Kimberly Wagner honestly shares her story of being a fierce woman and how she used that fierceness as a destructive character trait. She tells how her marriage went through a hard season and how her fierceness affected her husband. It is full of honesty and she doesn't back away from sharing the truth found in her story. She points you to the Bible and God's ideas of womanhood. He wants you to use your fierceness for Him and His glory- by being a soft warrior.

She goes on to share many ways of how you can encourage your husband by using the acronym APPRECIATION. Each letter representing some way you can build your husband up and encourage him to use his manhood for Jesus. Some examples include: admire and affirm him, praying for him, encouraging his leadership, accepting him for who he is, and treating him like a man.

I also really loved and appreciated the section in the back that compares the Characteristics of a Beautifully Fierce Woman and the Characteristics of a Destructively Fierce Woman. This will be very convicting to many and will most certainly take you to the Cross.

I really enjoyed this book and learned so much from reading it. It is a book of conviction and Truth that will encourage and inspire you to be a woman that is a soft warrior. Many women will strongly benefit from this book- women who are preparing for marriage to women who have been married for years. A wonderful resource for any woman seeking God-honoring, Christ-glorifying, biblical womanhood!

**I received a copy of this book from Moody Publishers for an honest review.**

"Beautifully Fierce." Isn't that a phrase you would like to describe you?

It speaks of a woman who follows Christ passionately and has no fear holding her back.

It speaks of a woman who will pursue the Kingdom of God boldly and fight for the faith as a warrioress.

It speaks of a woman consumed in God's Cause, giving herself up for Him with no reservations.

Fierce is a good characteristic.

However, the word fierce has other conotations too.

Fierce can quickly turn into arrogant and demanding, prideful and painful to live with.

Fierce can either cause you to give without thought for yourself or to overwhelm others to get your own way.

Kimberly Wagner writes about both manifestations of fierceness in this book- the one that hurts and the one that serves.

It is very easy to hurt with our fierceness, it is hard to let Grace temper us into soft warriors.

This book convicts, and never condemns. Kimberly has walked this road. She has been transformed by Christ and now longs for every fierce woman to become a soft warrior, whose fierceness is refined by Grace, Repentance, Gratitude and Love.

Though this book looks primarily at the way misplaced fierceness tears apart a marriage, this book is essential reading for every woman.

The attitudes and habits that demean a husband don't appear (or disappear) when you walk down the aisle. They have been present in our hearts from Eve on, when good things became tainted by sin. Fierceness might be used to belittle or malign a husband, instead of to further his vision and encourage him.

The joyful, fascinating thing is, fierceness is not the problem.

Woman who fiercely loyal and fiercely loving toward Christ will set the world on fire for the Gospel.

A woman who is fiercely honoring to her husband and fiercely supportive of him will make a strong home. Fierceness is not bad! It doesn't need to be removed! Fierceness can glorify God!

The Fierce Woman can become a Soft Warrior.

Thank you Moody Press for sending me this True Woman book. I have also reviewed and highly recommend their books Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh Demoss, True Woman 101 by Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh, and I have heard very good reviews about Lies Woman Believe by Mary Kassian.

I received this book from the publisher (Moody Publishers) for free to review.

It seemed very interesting to me. I was one of those people who saw fierce women as either sharply dressed women or overly ambitious women. So as I began reading this book, I was thinking okay none of this applies to me. I'm one of those women who isn't so outspoken when it comes to my husband. Usually I keep my comments and suggestions to myself unless asked for {I've felt the repercussions of giving unwanted advice}. Another thing I noticed is that my husband doesn't fit the profile of the men she describes. My husband is very strong and is kind of like its my way or the highway. There is no room for argument, sometimes you can compromise with him but not too often. And so I was left with the thought to stop reading the book because I can't relate. I'm not fierce, I don't know anyone who ever describe me as fierce.

However I continued reading the book, out of obligation and curiosity. Then I realized that for us the cycle was the other way around. And that was how I related to the book. Then I realized that I do have something in common with the fierce woman, pride. My pride sometimes will have me holding a grudge for hours. Sometimes my pride will have me say I forgive but don't quite forget and hold on to the hurt. And that's a big issue in marriage. Once we decide to forgive, we have to let go of the hurt or pride will creep in and cause a big mess.

I may read the book again, probably not anytime soon. Yet I do recommend the book to other women who fit the "fierce woman" role. I say this because many women are fierce, destructively fierce, and they don't recognize it however they wonder "why is my marriage/relationship like this?" They have a pride issue. I think that was it boils down to PRIDE, which is a very ugly word and can cause much distress.

One thing I will say to women reading this blog, if you are having issues in your marriage, relationships {with men}, ask yourself is it me? Am I too aggressive? Do I use my influence to be demeaning and negative? Is your husband in a cocoon trying to stay away from you? One thing I will tell you is to go get this book, read it, identify with it and do something about YOU.

So this is my honest opinion on this book and the effect it had on me. It's a good book. It's becomes great when one identifies with the fierce woman and can take the initiative to become a beautifully fierce woman.